Elective Home Education Officer - Term Time Only

Buckinghamshire Council; Aylesbury; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 38,000; Part time

Job summary

Buckinghamshire Council is seeking an Elective Home Education Officer to support families who choose home education across the county. The role involves visits, assessing provision, and maintaining records to ensure suitable education for every child.

The post emphasises safeguarding, working with teams to improve outcomes and to meet statutory duties. Term-time only, with hybrid office/field requirements and travel across Buckinghamshire.

Qualifications

• Qualified teacher status required with several years’ teaching experience.
• Strong communication, safeguarding knowledge and data handling abilities.

Responsibilities

• Develop positive relationships with families who elect to home educate.
• Plan and undertake home visits and meetings with parents and children.
• Assess suitability of educational provision in line with guidance and legislation.
• Produce detailed post-visit reports and maintain pupil records.
• Provide authoritative information, guidance and support to parents.
• Promote safeguarding awareness and escalate concerns where needed.
• Support engagement and educational outcomes for vulnerable children.
• Contribute to service development and improvement initiatives.

Skills

Communication skills

Safeguarding knowledge

ICT and data management

Education

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)

Job description

Elective Home Education Officer - Term Time Only

Location: Aylesbury

We're looking for an Elective Home Education Officer to join our Education Access and Inclusion team. In this rewarding role, you'll work directly with families across the county who choose to educate their children at home, providing professional guidance, support to help ensure every child has access to a suitable education and can thrive.

About us

Although we are a small team our aim is to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to achieve their full potential through their chosen educational pathway. We work closely with families, schools, and partner agencies to provide support, advice, and guidance, helping to overcome barriers and promote positive outcomes. By building strong relationships with our families and working together, we can ensure that children and young people remain at the centre of everything we do.

About the role

As an Elective Home Education Officer, you will play a key role in supporting Buckinghamshire's growing home education community. Working across the county, you will engage with families who have chosen elective home education, developing positive and constructive relationships that enable you to provide expert advice, guidance and support.

This is a highly varied and rewarding position that combines educational expertise, relationship building and safeguarding responsibilities. You'll undertake visits with children and families, assess the suitability of educational provision, maintain accurate records and contribute towards ensuring the Local Authority meets its statutory duties relating to Elective Home Education. You'll also have the opportunity to support vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups, including children and young people from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, helping to remove barriers to educational engagement and improve outcomes.

Working collaboratively with colleagues, families and wider partners, you'll help shape service improvements, share best practice and contribute to a service committed to supporting children, young people and their families.

Key responsibilities include:

• Developing positive working relationships with families who elect to home educate their children.
• Planning and undertaking home visits and meetings with parents, carers and children.
• Assessing the suitability of educational provision in line with statutory guidance and legislation.
• Producing detailed post-visit reports and maintaining accurate pupil records.
• Providing authoritative information, guidance and support to parents and carers.
• Promoting safeguarding awareness and escalating concerns where appropriate.
• Supporting engagement and educational outcomes for vulnerable children and young people.
• Contributing to service development and continuous improvement initiatives.

For a full list of responsibilities and duties, please refer to the Job Description.

Any-Desk:

As an ‘any-desk’ worker, you’ll need to be connected to our network to access digital folders and resources, but this can either be from home or an office location when required. You will be required to work from the office a couple of times a week, depending on your role and team requirements.

About you

We're seeking an experienced education professional who is passionate about supporting children and families and who values the diverse approaches to learning found within the home education community. You'll be someone who can build trust and credibility quickly, communicate confidently with a wide range of people and balance support with professional challenge when required.

You'll be an organised and self-motivated individual with excellent judgement, able to manage a varied caseload and navigate complex situations with sensitivity and professionalism. A strong understanding of safeguarding, educational legislation and the needs of vulnerable children will be essential, alongside a commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes for every child.

To be successful in this role, you will have:

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
• Several years' experience teaching within an educational setting.
• Extensive knowledge of education systems, teaching practice and learning approaches.
• A thorough understanding of Elective Home Education legislation and guidance.
• Knowledge of the Education Act, Children Missing Education, Special Educational Needs and safeguarding requirements.
• Excellent communication, influencing and relationship-building skills.
• Strong problem-solving abilities and the confidence to manage complex cases.
• Effective planning and organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise competing demands.
• Experience of working professionally with a range of stakeholders and partners.
• Strong ICT and data management skills.
• A full driving licence and the ability to travel across the county.

For full details of the knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications required, please refer to the Job Description.

Please note: Salary is pro rata to term time only

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to make a meaningful difference to the lives of children and young people, working within a supportive and collaborative team that is committed to inclusion, safeguarding and educational excellence. You'll use your professional expertise to positively influence outcomes for families across Buckinghamshire whilst helping to shape and develop an important service for the future.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious , Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.